Protests mar official launch of new Parliament building

THE official opening of the European Parliament’s new 420 million euro headquarters in Strasbourg this week was overshadowed by a boycott of the proceedings by almost 100 MEPs, an increasingly bitter row over where the assembly’s permanent home should be and continuing criticism of the structure’s many defects.

French President Jacques Chirac opened the assembly's new building amid much pomp and ceremony, and tried to play down the controversy over the giant curved-glass hemicycle's defects by insisting these were "teething problems" and that "soon, nothing but admiration will be expressed for this beautiful building".

But many MEPs and officials who have to work in the building remained unconvinced. Dutch Liberal Lousewies van der Laan attacked the poor air quality and cramped offices, and said that the imposing edifice was "symbolic of the whole of the EU - first the structure was set up and then we asked whether it was workable".

After MEPs held their first sitting in their new home in July, the Parliament's top official Julian Priestley admitted that the building had more than 10,000 faults. Builders have been frantically trying to fix the most pressing problems since then, with mixed success.

There is now better access for disabled members, signposts are more intelligible and the decor is less gloomy. But a great deal of work remains. Journalists are still complaining about the facilities in the press centre; the lifts, telephones and sound systems function erratically; and black remains the predominant colour in cafes and corridors.

Senior parliamentary officials admit that "the finished article did not respond to our original plans" and say some of the structural problems cannot be solved. The assembly is also engaged in a legal wrangle with the building's constructors over who should pay for the delays and tackling niggling faults.

One official said it was important to sort out these problems swiftly because the amount of rent the Parliament pays is dependent on the final cost of the building. The assembly is also keen to buy its Strasbourg headquarters quickly because if it does so within ten years, the French government has pledged to waive the cost of the land and value added tax.

Numerous MEPs used the opening ceremony to air their grievances. Almost all the UK members boycotted the event in protest at the French ban on British beef and more than 200 deputies from all political groups presented an open letter to heads of state and government demanding that the Parliament be given the right to decide where it sits.

"We have been elected to fight waste and this charade of coming to Strasbourg every month diminishes the Parliament in the eyes of the voters," said British Conservative member Roy Perry.